Wednesday, August 31, 2011

I hope you all are having a great summer! I missed you ladies and am happy to be back to blogging. With all the songbirds flying about and chatting in the branches, I decided it was time to present a manicure with wing tips.

Beginning with Color Club Shabby Drab as a base, I created a French tip gradation using a fan brush. To try this look, you will need to work with a palette. The back of an uncoated nail art stamping plate or even a paper plate would suffice.

For the first layer, I chose the silver frost: Boho Mojo. I placed a circle of color on the palette and pushed the fan brush against the polish. Imagine the fan brush as a tiny push broom. If you pull the brush towards you on the palette, you will risk picking up too much color and losing the feathery effect.

Rad Nomad forms the second layer. This dusky purple is several shades darker than the base color, Shabby Drab. The final layer at the tips is Voodoo You Do, a peacock green pearl.

When working with the fan brush, I only needed a third of the brush edge per color. I was careful to portion the sections equally when working so I didn't have to be concerned about cleaning the brush between layers.

Before adding rhinestones and pearls, the design had a soft, watercolor feel. I will likely try this technique again without further embellishment. I couldn't resist selecting pearls and rhinestones in lavender, purple, green and silver to complement the polish.

Passion flower

Shabby Drab is a greyed violet. I have seen hints of this shade in the sky intermingled with the pinks of sunset. The creme formula is opaque in three coats and offers salon quality application. Love this polish!

I hope you enjoyed my fancy, wing tips. And no, I won't acknowledge the name also applies to shoes. I think the songbirds like my usage best.

The Color Club polishes were sent to me for review. The four shades featured are from the Back to Boho Collection, and will be available soon for purchase at victoriasnailsupply.com. You can also peruse the company site, cosmeticgroup.com.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Both the caretaker of this blog and her resident animal companion share a key commonality: Neither enjoys arising from sleep. I have documented the progression of Fortune, my ragdoll cat, greeting the persistent light of late morning. I am thankful he hasn't yet mastered use of a camera to share his view of me at such an hour! I think he does well to embody my morning crankiness with his own particular flair.

Let me sleep.

It appears you are still here.

I shall smack you to be certain I am not dreaming.

I am prepared to destroy your camera.

Fine. I am awake.

In the last photo, Fortune resembles an old sailor. Having lived along the New England coast, I was often greeted with such expressions by fisherman who seem lost and disgruntled on land. Just imagine my cat in a bright yellow bucket hat and a slicker. It works!

This vignette is something I encounter daily. After Fortune has a few minutes to acclimate, he wants to be kissed and cuddled. Then there is much more joy in his cheeky face.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

In the afternoons of early August, sunbeams drift over the garden. The flowers themselves almost seem like sources of light. I wanted to capture the feeling of sunbeams touching the blossoms with this manicure.

I began with TRANQUIL Tangerine as the base and used the Konad Sponge Nail Art Kit to form a gradient effect with GLEE Gold. I wanted to create French tips that looked like they had been jeweled with sunbeams. I selected an array of yellow and orange gems and pearls to dot the tips. I also added the occasional floral rhinestone. The peach flowers with the diamond centers are from Born Pretty Store. These require nail glue for proper adhesion. I am impressed with the durability of these flowers for everyday wear.

My right hand shows the floral element on the center nail.

There are tiny rainbows in the diaphanous wings of the bee.

TRANQUIL Tangerine has a pearl formula with gold micro shimmer. The polish is a radiant orange. I absolutely adore the color! The first coat was a trickster. I found it necessary to apply a thicker layer than usual. Working with a thinner coat caused the polish to pull up as I was adding new brushstrokes. The color smoothed over the nail beautifully on the second coat.

As with all pearl formulas, it's necessary to carefully paint with even brushstrokes. The path of the brush is almost indiscernible once the color dries. It's a truly lovely polish and worth a little extra care to apply.

About the lady

I've loved nail polish since girlhood. My grandmom bought me colorful bottles every time we went to the drugstore together. That sentiment has never left me. My favorite brands now are China Glaze, Chanel, Color Club, Misa, Nubar, OPI and Zoya. I can't pass by Sally Hansen, Milani, or Rimmel in a drugstore without incident of shopping. I dream of vast stores of old Urban Decay and Hard Candy polishes. In reality, I have a few. I have a penchant for glitter and the Konad has taken over much of my brainspace with swirls, flowers and butterflies. I like whimsy. I carry a parasol.
berkana[at]fastmail[dot]fm